I have had this deck for a couple
of months now, and have pulled it out to review on more
than one occasion. I always ended up reviewing something
else because could not come to any firm conclusions about
this deck. I couldn't even make up my mind whether I
liked it or whether I found it repulsive. I think it's a
little of both.

The "scenes" on this deck are
composites of body parts from various creatures. They are
joined together to create a creature-like form, lighted,
colored and presented on a black background. They have an
eerie, alien quality to them. Many of the creatures look
like the little critters you see on public television
shows about the unseen world. Creatures like the tiny
bugs that live in the base of your eyelashes, or the
little mites that live in your sheets, no matter how
clean you think they are. Like many people, I find things
like this somewhat repulsive, yet fascinating. This deck
gives me a similar feeling. One would be hard pressed to
call the art on this deck beautiful in the traditional
sense of the word, yet the use of light, and color,
combined with the strangeness of the images make this
deck compelling.

This deck has changed the traditional
names of some of the Majors:

Consort = Empress

Ruler = Emperor

Priest = Hierophant

Synergy = Lovers

Warrior = Chariot

Sage = Hermit

Wheel of Life = Wheel of Fortune

Inversion = Hanged Man

Balance = Temperance

Unknown = Devil

Creation = Tower

Rebirth = Judgment

Unity = World

Strength is 8 and Justice is 11. The
Minors have one word interpretations assigned, which are also
non-traditional. The Court Cards are King, Queen Knight and Page
and the suits are Swords, Wands, Cups and Coins. There are 4
additional cards called "phase cards", which represent
the elements. Color is consistent throughout the minors with the
swords colored yellow; the wands, red; the cups blue; and the
coins green.The phase cards are used in conjunction with the rest
of the deck and effect the interpretation. The little booklet
that comes with the deck tells you this much, and provides
interpretations which take the phase cards into account, but it
does not explain the mechanism for incorporating them into the
reading. The only spread given is the Celtic Cross, and the
description given for it does not address the phase cards at all.
I anticipate we will be seeing a separate book for this deck. I
would like to know just what creatures make up each card, and why
they were chosen. I would also like to know how the phase cards
are used in a reading. I could come up with ways to use them on
my own, but I would like to know what the creators' intent was,
especially since he/she is so insistent that they must be used.

This is a deck that you will probably
love or hate at first sight. I recommend you look at it a few
times before passing final judgment. My initial reaction was
negative, but after I looked at the deck several times, I found
it intriguing. I recommend this deck for collectors or for those
who are looking for something different. In the right hands, this
deck looks like it could give some powerful readings. See the Terrestrial
Tarot Deck